What I didn't do Over Summer Vacation

Your first assignment is a twist (and an improvement) on an old, first-day-of-school favorite. Maybe you’ve have had an action-packed summer. Perhaps you went hiking in the Himalayas or big-game hunting on the Serengeti. Maybe you solved a murder or impersonated a brain surgeon. It’s even possible that you discovered a map to buried treasure and beat a hapless pair of dim-witted, petty thieves to the loot (only to find the treasure chest full of lima beans).

Then again, maybe your summer was ordinary and dull like it was for the rest of us. In that case, this assignment is just for you.

Don’t bore your reader with actual events. Don’t talk about cutting grass or getting a sunburn or reading books. Don’t tell us about your trip to grandma’s house or the knee you skinned falling off your skateboard.

Tell a story about what didn’t really happen. My guess is what didn’t happen will be much more interesting than what did.

Make it up. Be creative. Be funny if you want to. Don’t worry about style or form or your writing coach’s expectations. This is the first assignment. Relax and have fun with it. We just want to get familiar with how you write.

Suggested Length: Keep the paper between one and a half and three pages.

Note: Most of the papers you will write for us this year will be completed in three drafts. This first assignment, however, is what we call a diagnostic assignment. It is designed primarily to show your writing coach what kind of writer you are. You will only write one draft of this one, and it won’t get an assessment score.